Four decades on from the first laps by a Formula 1 car at the inaugural Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide in 1985, history has been repeated at the 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival.
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On October 31 1985, Alan Jones was given the honour of completing the first lap for a Formula 1 car at the inaugural Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide, at the start of a familiarisation practice session in his Beatrice Haas Lola THL1.
That same car completed a special demonstration at the start of the 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival, to celebrate 40 years since the first grand prix.
The Haas Lola THL1 Formula 1 car has been a regular at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, powered by a turbocharged Hart engine. The car will be in the Formula 1 category across the weekend.
Jones, the 1980 Formula 1 world champion, was the only Australian on the grid for the first grand prix in Adelaide in 1985. Jones was due to appear at the 2025 Repco Adelaide Motorsport Festival to witness the lap, however he was unable to make it due to travel disruptions caused by Cyclone Alfred.